Payroll analysts have the most exciting careers of any jobs in payroll. The payroll analyst is responsible for all sorts of important duties at any company. They process the weekly or monthly payroll reports. They reconcile the payroll accounts and correct the errors. They process, balance, report, and distribute W-2 forms. They even create budget projections. They are responsible for conducting surveys of people’s salaries and for preparing the reports for the senior management team. They prepare all of the periodic statistical, financial, and operational reporting papers as they are needed. They administer all of the payroll-related benefit programs for the employees. They perform all of the internal audits of every payroll account. They even prepare the materials for all of the external and internal auditors.
The very top senior analyst job positions might require some training and advising of a payroll staff over the certain procedures that need to be taken to assist in complex transactions. Some of these people may also serve as liaisons with different departments that work to resolve all of the issues with payroll and correcting mistakes that can come up within a larger organization.
In a large number of reported cases, the person who is acting as the company’s payroll analyst and the departments that handle patrol and accounting will work in very close combination with human resources. There are also many other responsibilities that have to be taken up by an analyst at any organization. These analysts are responsible for preparing the correspondence and the communication with the other various departments via the use of email. They are also in charge of monitoring the time cards for the various employees and ensuring that each and every one of them gets paid when they should get paid. The analyst also assists the payroll clerks in handling all of the little day-to-day tasks that come along with that work. They also monitor and oversee the payroll processing for the new hires. Finally, they maintain the entire payroll database that includes the entire base, benefits, and wages of all of the company’s current employees.
The real role of any good payroll analyst is to be the reconciler of the payroll accounts and to make sure that each and every account is entered accurately into the computer system of the company’s accounting system. Many of these analysts with jobs in payroll have the responsibility of preparing the payroll schedules and reports. Other analysts are just responsible for reviewing and analyzing documents to help auditors both internally and externally.
There are many requirements for people who want to become analysts. They generally have bachelor’s degrees in accounting and related fields. Most of them earn around $60,000 per year. They can work independently or they can work as part of an auditing team.
Analyzing payrolls can be very rewarding.